Visiting the National Park on the Pedernales River

Published in the La Vernia News on May 28, 2015

Visiting the National Park on The Pedernales River-LBJ Park

In 1879, at a good ole Texas barbeque on the
banks of Town Creek, locals met to choose a site for a new town. The winner was
a 320-acre plot of land on the
Pedernales River offered by James Polk Johnson, a distant relative of our 36th
President. A good
place to start exploring both the town and the man it produced is at the Lyndon
B. Johnson National Historic Park Visitor Center at the Intersection of Ladybird Lane and Avenue G in
Johnson City.

LBJ Park

This National Park is divided into two
parts. At the Johnson City location, you can visit the Visitor’s Center, LBJ’s
Boyhood Home and the Johnson Settlement.

TheVisitor’s Center should be you first stop. In addition to exhibits about LBJ’s life accomplishments, campaign memorabilia, and items from the past-such
as LBJ Ranch branding irons-there are two excellent 30-minute videos offered, one LBJ and the other on Lady
Bird.

Boyhood Home: Lyndon lived here from the age of five until his
high school graduation in 1924. It is furnished in the early to mid-1920s
period and depicts the rural Texas lifestyle of 75 years ago. Free
Ranger-guided tours are offered every half hour, from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM and
from1:00 PM to 4:30 PM. Meet the Ranger on the front porch a few minutes before
the next tour is scheduled to start.

Johnson Settlement:Johnson’s frontier heritage goes back to
his Grandfather, Samuel Ely Johnson, Jr., who established a cattle droving headquarters in the 1860s on land that is
now part of Johnson City, Texas. His log cabin, barns, cooler house, and
windmill still stand. Visitors can take a self-guiding nature trail from the
Visitor’s Center (less than one mile round trip) or can access the Settlement by
car just off of Highway 290 on the way to Stonewall.

Everyday Journeys

Harry and linda Kaye Perez

The second part of this park is near Stonewall, 14
miles west from Johnson City and includes LBJ Ranch and the Texas White House.
It was here on this land that LBJ he was born, lived, died and was buried, and
where Lady Bird resided until her death in 2007.

At the Visitor Center in
Stonewall, get your free driving permit and tour route map. To get the most out
of this area, a CD narrative audio tour is available for purchase for at the
gift shop. Then at your own pace, you can visit his birthplace, the family
cemetery, and the Texas White House.

The 30-minute tours of the Texas White House are limited to 12 people; there
is a small fee for visitors 18 years of age and older ($3.00). The Ranch is
open every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day; gates open
from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM. Recommended time for each site (Johnson City and
Stonewall) is a minimum of two hours.

Special events are offered throughout the year at the Ranch. For example, on June 6, Movies Under the
Stars at the LBJ Ranch will present Apollo
13, staring Tom Hanks. Gates open at 7: 00 PM. Bring lawn chairs or blankets
and your own refreshments. Future movie presentations will include Sons of Katie Elder and The Sound of Music. These are free events.

On August 27, on President Johnson birthday, there will be a wreath
laying ceremony at the Johnson Family Cemetery. The public is invited; the program
will begin at approximately 10:00 AM. Tours of the Texas White House will
commence following the ceremony.

More To Do

Both
Johnson City and Stonewall are on the awarding-winning Texas Hill Country Wine
Trail. In Johnson City you will find the Texas
Hills Vineyard and in Stonewall check out the Woodrose Winery or visit the Pedernales
Cellars and enjoy a one-hour tour of their unique geothermal barrel cellars.
There are great eateries in all along the route.

The Sculpture Ranch and Galleries
encompasses 140 acres of woodland and grasslands in Johnson City, featuring
large-scale sculptures on the grounds. The sculptures are accessible by
roadways or by walk paths. Check their website for open and closing times as
they do vary.

So much to see and do
we can’t possible list it all here. The 80-mile drive to Johnson City and then
beyond is a wonderful way to spend time getting to know Texas